1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to the field of security risks associated with programs used in connection with customer premises equipment.
2. Background
Communication networks, such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks, are used for providing a variety of services, including Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), Video-on-Demand (VoD), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), access to the Internet, etc. At the customer end, a Residential Gateway (RG), such as DSL Modem, interfaces with the network and a set-top-box (STB) that provides content (video, voice and data) to a television set.
To provide the variety of content from different providers, several applications (programs) are employed at the network side and at the customer premises equipment (CPE), such as the residential gateway and STB. Thus, various applications interact with each other to properly provide the content to the CPE and interactivity with the network elements. These applications include operating systems and application programs for operating the CPE. These applications and subsequent updates are generally provided by different application providers. For example, different manufacturers or suppliers provide applications for the residential gateway and the STBs, while other providers may provide control panels for the STBs. The applications are typically installed on the CPE by the manufacturers of such devices. Upgrades and patches are often downloaded to the CPE over the network. Each such program brings the possibility of introducing security vulnerabilities. To reduce the security risks, each provider of the applications program typically tests such programs individually by running security scanners against the application programs prior to the installation or release of such programs. Such security scanning methods are useful, but do not provide comprehensive and integrated methods for determining and fixing the security vulnerabilities of the various application programs for the network environment. Thus, there is a need for an improved system and method for determining security vulnerabilities of applications relating to CPE.